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WITB - WEDGE Testing Follow up for 2021


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First, thank you @Manimal26 for some insight into the Mizuno wedges.  That was most helpful.  

As part of my 2021 plans, I've been looking to replace wedges.  I run a two year (Max) cycle where I will put new wedges in the bad.  With the amount of practice and play I go through any given year, it's by that time that I need new grooves.  Any longer than that I'll end up getting those floats, fliers, low spin knucklers and all sorts of lack of control.  This marks the time where I needed to look to replace some wedges. 

So in my mix for 2021 Wedge Testing I had the following wedges to sort through:

- Taylormade MG2 - My current gamer but wanted to test a fresh one with the others I'd be testing

- Mizuno T20 Raw

- Callaway Jaws - Again one of my current gamers and wanted to test with fresh grooves

- Cleveland RTX

- Ping Glide 

- Vokey SM8's - Regrettable but for the sake of testing I had to add it. 

Interestingly, within a few shots I could tell from a feel perspective that a few were going to fall by the wayside.  The Vokey and Ping both feel wise just didn't have that something for me.  I do get that they are fabulous wedges and many fans that will only play them.  For me, I'm quite particular in the feels and looks first and foremost but they still have to deliver numbers.  Both delivered decent spin, launch and playabilities for me; but neither ticked the box in feel and looks for me.  Wedges are a highly personal piece of the bag on par with the putter for me.  I guess I just have a unique taste when I look down at something.  

Anyways, I digress....

Testing Impressions:

So the Cleveland RTX Wedges first.  From a looks perspective, these aren't the worst looking.  They certainly don't harken back to the days of old when we all fell in love with the 588's, but they have a fairly uniform look to them that's subtle and appealing. 

From a feel perspective I wouldn't say they are particularly "soft" but they do have a responsive feel to them.  They didn't have the click you get from a Vokey type wedge, but a little more than a gentle thud in most cases. I felt like you know when you squared one up perfectly and it comes off the face.  Grind wise, I found they had adequate grinds to satisfy most playability.  Funny though, I felt the heel was a bit too noticeable on the model that was suppose to provide heal relief.  When attempting a flop or just trying to hit a full shot with a slightly open face I felt like the heel limited the amount of playability I got out of it.  It wasn't terrible, but it just felt slightly off.  Chipping was probably a strong suit for these wedges in my testing.  There were very few instances where I would hit a chip and it would surprise me or run out further than what I was expecting.  

Spin wise, they do spin a hell'en!  I had some of my higher spin numbers with these wedges, which in my case isn't always a good thing.  Full shots, which are only about 80-90% swings - never full out, produced over 10K spin on the regular and I can only image that I'd be visiting the front of greens when I land it in the back far to frequently.  I also went into wet condition testing with the ball and wedge and well they performed just okay.  Slight drops in numbers and consistency, which in the NE we do have quite wet conditions far to frequently, so that worried me.  

I moved on to the Mizuno T20 next.  For obvious reasons that I waxed upon frequently in posts, I switched to Mizuno irons recently and wanted to test the wedges as a logical progression.  Looks wise I felt that they were pretty close to my JPX irons.  I could see a logic if not natural progression from the JPX PW to these wedges.  That was a huge tick in the box from the get.  I was fortunate enough that the center had a Raw one to test with.  It had been sitting around a bit so it had some rust on it.  Not sure if it was one of the Pro's wedges, but it looked like it saw some action testing it out so I'd assume it's been there for a bit.  Looks wise I was quite satisfied. 

Feel.  Now for one of the more important aspects to me.  As many have commented in posts and or reviews I've seen... these aren't the softest feeling iron.  I was obviously a bit disappointed because once you taste the "Nothing feels like a Mizuno" forgings you tend to hold things to an unrealistic standard, or hope if you will.  After my first 5 or so shots I noticed a quite distinct clicky sound to them with somewhat of a zip feel off of them.  I could tell by the feel I was putting PLENTY of spin on them, but unfortunately was having a bit of a tough time with the click and hard feel in my mind.  They weren't as harsh or hard feeling like say the Vokey's can feel, but they were certainly harder than I was thinking they would be.  I would even go so far as saying that I didn't previously believe some of the reviews where people were saying they were that hard, but I could relatively quickly see where those comments came from. 

Performance wise, they performed well.  The numbers were all within reason and allowed for me to hit a number of my go-to shot types.  Chipping around greens was fairly easy with adequate spin on the ball to get the appropriate distances.  The heel relief I found was adequate as well.  Though, I must admit I could easily see myself grinding just a tad bit off of them if I went that route.  Going Raw version would be perfect for that obviously.  As Manimal pointed out, I did do a wet ball / club test with these as well.  That's where these really shined.  I was VERY impressed with the lack of drop off here.  The spin numbers stayed up, the flights were pretty consistent, playability remained within expectations and overall the wedge did seem to do well with their secret sauce to make them gamers in wet weather.  Frankly, this was were they stood out the most of the remaining test models I was considering.  Overall, I wasn't wow'ed by the T20, but I will say I was impressed and most of that came from the wet-ball testing.  

I'll lump the MD4 JAWS and the MG2 into one paragraph and keep it simple.  Having played these wedges for a while now, I kinda felt like they were "home."  I obviously could hit the shots, got my spin numbers I expect, flighted them up and down, and felt that they both didn't really do anything different than what I already come to know and love. 

Findings:

Overall, I suppose the saying goes "If it aint broke, why fix it..."  And I would say that this saying fits in my circumstance at this time.  

Being a perpetual tinkerer by nature, I love to test new equipment and switch out my bag with new toys whenever they give me something more than what I am getting already.  In the case of testing all these wedges I have to admit that none of them drastically improved upon what's in my bag at this time.  Nor would I say that the Titleist, Cleveland, Ping or Mizuno had shown that they would better enable me to do something I'm weak at better within my setup.  Obviously, clubs don't fix your game.  What you put in is what you get out.  But being a moderately low handicap golfer with a pretty good set of skills in my tool kit, I saw nothing that these wedges offered me that would better enable me to perform.  

So that left me in the position of do I order the exact same wedges I have already but in newer models, OR do I go with one or the other for all three wedges I currently game. 

So what did I do?

As of today, I ordered three new wedges.  50*, 54*, and a 58* all with Nippon 105 S shafts.  Keeping the lofts the same because after years of play, these lofts seem to gap and fit my game the best.  I have three blacked out MG2's on the way with the rusty faces soon to follow after when I soak them for a bit! 😄  I do love my 54* Jaws wedge but I'm gonna try to keep it consistent this year in the wedge department.  Should allow for a uniformity of feel and play.  

Hope I didn't bore y'all too much, but wanted to give an update on my WITB testing for 2021.  Just in case anyone was interested in a read on testing for WITB of a fellow MGS'er!  Would love as always to hear about other's journeys as well. 

Take care all and play well!

 

BNewt51

Golf Addict.... Father of 4.  Pennsylvania Golfer 

Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond - Ventus Red X :callaway-small:

3 Wood:  TS2 14* :titleist-small:

Hybrid:  Titleist TSI 2 18*  (Only used on Soft Rainy days)  image.png.94e8f04243fe8584238d70d382b90525.png

Utility Irons:  4 iron (Steel Fiber FC 110 - Stiff)  image.png.edaa152b6173d27a9529d0f1d7fcc172.png

Irons:  Titleist T-150 4-PW Steel Fiber CW 110 - Stiff  :titleist-small:

Wedges:  Vokey 48-8 Vokey 54-10 Vokey 58-6 all SM9's  :titleist-small:

Putter:  Scotty Cameron Special Select 5 Flowback (custom shop copper finish) or Bettinardi QB8  :titleist-small:  :bettinardi-small:

Ball:  Pro-V1x :titleist-small:

Titleist Tour Carry Bag Black and White  :titleist-small:

Bushnell Range Finder (Patriot Pack)  

*King of taking (borrowing) all my club ***** friends clubs after they've discarded them after a couple months!

 

 

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Awesome write up and feedback. Thank you!

Driver: :titelist-small: TSR3 8 Ventus Red TR 8X

Fairway: :titelist-small: TSi2 16.5 Ventus Blue 8X 

Hybrid:  :taylormade-small: Sim 2 - 19 Hybrid Tensei Orange 90TX

Irons:  :taylormade-small: P790 4-5 P7MC Raw 6-PW MMT 125TX

Wedges: :vokey-small: SM8 50.10F, 54.10S - X100 & 58.04T S400

Putter: Lajosi DD201

:titelist-small: Pro V1X Left Dash

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